By Erin Bamer | Reporter
“Not knowing if their parents will be there when they get home, not being sure of what will happen to their families. It’s a very real reality to the students that I work with, and it’s definitely a fear that’s grown within them and within their families.” - Denise Meyer, a teacher and English language specialist in Springfield, Missouri.
Six of Juan Lopez’s children and two sons-in-law stand inside the Des Moines, Iowa, garage where he spent most of his time fixing cars and watching television with friends, on Sept. 27, 2026. One of his grandchildren is seated nearby. Juan Lopez was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sept. 9, 2026. (Madeleine Charis King/Iowa Public Radio)
IMMIGRATION
By Steph Conquest-Ware
Since her father was detained and deported, Abigail Lopez struggles to concentrate in class. The 14-year-old attends Stilwell Junior High School in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested her father, Juan Lopez, on his way to work in September. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security told The Midwest Newsroom that Juan has a felony record, including aggravated assault with a weapon and burglary.
Rendering of future Levi Carter Park Activity and Sports Complex at Levi Carter Park on the north shore of Carter Lake. That’s in northeast Omaha near Eppley Airfield. The project is among recipients of a North and South Omaha Recovery Grant ($10 million). The grant program was the topic of a legislative special committee hearing Wednesday in Lincoln. Schemmer Architecture is the design team and Hausmann Construction is general contractor of this project site. (Courtesy of City of Omaha)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Cindy Gonzalez
LINCOLN — Amid concerns raised by a Nebraska legislative committee, the state’s director for economic development Wednesday defended her team’s handling of a roughly $235 million grant program aimed at lifting North and South Omaha.
The 2026 candidates for Legislative District 10, from left: Cindy Johnson of Omaha and Rebecca Rens of Bennington. State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha is term-limited. (Photos courtesy of the candidates/campaigns | Nebraska Capitol photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
District 10 is up for grabs as new candidates Johnson, Rens fight for open seat in state Legislature
By Erin Bamer
LINCOLN — In the politically split District 10, a seat in the Nebraska Legislature is up for grabs with its current representative ineligible for reelection.
Former state Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, center, speaks at a meeting of Nebraska’s School Financing Review Commission on Oct. 20, 2026, at the Nebraska Department of Education in Lincoln. At left is Tom Briese, a former state treasurer and former state senator from Albion. At right is Grant Latimer, a policy adviser to Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ICYMI
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Among recommendations to increase state funding for Nebraska’s 244 school districts was one adopted Tuesday to increase per-student aid by at least 4% annually.
Justin Hubly, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, leads a news conference Dec. 7, 2023, in Lincoln regarding Gov. Jim Pillen’s executive order mandating state employees return to in-peson offices by Jan. 2, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LABOR & GROWTH
By Kevin Hardy
State and local government employees report high levels of job satisfaction across the country, but face significant rates of burnout and on-the-job harassment.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
UNO professor to lead University of Iowa's Center for Intellectual Freedom | Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch
Nebraska auditor presses state retirement agency for answers on outgoing director’s pay | Erin Bamer
COMMENTARY
Myth busting, values voting, Maine messaging | George Ayoub
EDITOR'S CHOICE
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